Different therapeutic compositions are used nowadays in practice for treating acute gastrointestinal disturbances in farm animals, especially young ones.
More often antibiotics are used such as, for example, tetracycline, as well as sulfamide and nitrofuran preparations, such as, for example, sulfadimidine, furazolidone and others. The effect of treatment by these preparations is not sufficiently high due to their toxicity and side effects. Moreover, in the process of treatment by antibiotics healthy microflora is destroyed alongside with deleterious one and, besides, microorganisms rather quickly get accustomed to the applied preparations.
A number of attempts are known in the art to use for treatment of acute gastrointestinal disturbances in animals preparations indifferent to the organism and detoxicating the deleterious microflora through adsorption of pathiogenic microorganisms. One of such preparations is, for example, activated charcoal but it proved to be poorly effective in practice.
Early in this century there appeared some information in pertinent literature concerning the preparation based on Scholler lignin treated by alkali, used as a sorbent of pathogenic microorganisms and applied only in clinical investigation in humans as an antidiarrhea agent.
Scholler lignin obtained through pulsating percolation method, wherein the wood is treated by a diluted solution of sulfuric acid supplied in a multistage way under the temperature increase up to from 170.degree. to 190.degree. C. and the product of hydrolysis is periodically separated, contained from 8% to 10% by mass of hydrocellulose.
The drawback of this preparation is in the fact that due to the low content of hydrocellulose therein and viscid effect of lignin it causes bradyperistalsis thus constipating the stomach which is extremely undesirable in treating farm animals, especially young ones.
Known in the art also are lignin-containing substances used as adsorbers in biochemistry (Cf. West German Pat. No. 2532941 patented July 23, 1975). It is also suggested in this patent to use the aforementioned Scholler lignin or lignin obtained through treating the wood by super concentrated hydrochloric acid, said lignin being practically free from hydrocellulose. These preparations also exert negative effect on the intestinal peristalsis due to the absence or low content of hydrocellulose therein.
Known in the art also is a similar preparation of residual wood resulting from percolation hydrolysis by diluted solution of sulfuric acid followed by alkali treatment (Cf. USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 556811 published June 24, 1977).
Though the content of hydrocellulose in this preparation is higher as compared to that of the above mentioned preparations and reaches 10 to 19% by mass, it is still not enough to improve substantially the intestinal peristalsis and thereby therapeutic effect of said preparation.
All known above mentioned preparations containing lignin and a low amount of hydrocellulose were mainly used for humans in clinical investigations of these preparations.
Known in the art is a method for treating acute gastrointestinal disturbances in humans with application of the preparation containing 10 to 19% by mass of hydrocellulose wherein the preparation in the form of 40% water paste is administered in the amount of one table spoon 3-4 times a day prior to the meal until the termination of diarrhea.
This method was experimentally applied for treating calves suffering from disturbances of gastrointestinal tract. Some drawbacks were exposed herewith which were in the difficulty of administration of the preparation to the animal in the form of the paste as well as in the fact that the recommended dose was low for an effective treatment and the period of treatment was protracted up to from 8 to 10 days.
Known in the art is a method for producing medical preparation based on Scholler lignin (a paper by Sharkov V. I., Tsobkallo G. I. et al. in the journal "Hydroliznaja i Lesohimicheskaja Promishlennost) wherein the Scholler lignin is boiled for many hours in 2% solution of caustic soda to be washed, dried and ground thereafter. This method does not provide higher content of hydrocellulose in the final product due to its low content in the Scholler lignin. Besides, the alkaline treatment according to this method is carried out under hard conditions at which the hydrocellulose is subjected to destruction and dilution to a considerable extent which decreases its content in the product and the yield of the product as a whole.
According to another method of producing medical lignin known in the art (cf. USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 556811) hydrolized lignin obtained in the result of percolation hydrolysis of the wood is subjected to the treatment by 2-3 hydromoduli of 2% solution of caustic soda at a temperature of from 70.degree. to 100.degree. C. for a period of from 2 to 3 hours to be washed then with water, neutralized, dried and ground (The hydromodulus is the ratio of the mass of solution to the mass of solids to be treated).
This method does not also allow to obtain medical lignin with the content of hydrocellulose below 20% by mass is used as a raw material and, besides, the alkaline treatment is carried out in this case as well under hard conditions.